It’s not something most people even consider when buying a gallon of milk at the store, but the formula for prices dairy farmers receive for the milk their cows produce can be a complicated one.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has held close to 50 hearings on the issue, which have now wrapped up.
Farmers are hopeful the process will result in the first significant milk market price reforms this century.
Farming is hard work. For Pat McCormick, it’s a way of life on his farm in Java Center in Wyoming County, where he milks 700 cows.
"You got to really work hard to make a living at doing what we love to do," he said.
McCormick is paying close attention to the ongoing Federal Milk Marketing Order hearings. FMMO sets prices processors pay milk producers. From the farmer’s end, it’s not exactly an exact science, or a transparent one.
"The transparency aspect is a big part of it," he said. "To give us our voice. To be able to understand where they're coming from so we understand it."
McCormick says as the markets work now, he won’t know how much he’ll get for the milk he ships until a month down the road — a road with a lot of bumps.
"Milk prices have been very volatile through the years," he said. "Very up and down. Every eight to 10 years you get a really excellent year."
The last really good year was 2022, according to McCormick. But prices have dropped ever since and changes in the milk marketing system could help farmers everywhere.
Several steps remain in the Federal Milk Marketing Order process. At the conclusion of the hearings, held in Indiana, the American Farm Bureau Federation called on the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to speed up a measure it says would help prevent farmers from racking up further losses for the milk they produce.
"I’m very hopeful because they’ve gone about this the right way," said McCormick.
Farming is a 24-7 job that’s become less of a livelihood and more of a business.
McCormick hopes the USDA hearings are a step toward giving dairy farmers more of a voice on a complicated issue.
"It’s a 24-hour a day job," he said. "But if I didn’t love what I do, I wouldn’t be doing it."